Inner tone for a musical instrument



Jan. 6, 1970 W. L. MILLS Mmm INNER TONE FOR A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT FiledMarch 1, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q Q Q 2 m:

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United States Patent 3,487,742 INNER TONE FOR A MUSICAL INSTRUMENTWarren L. Mills, 5742 Maryland Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60637 Filed Mar. 1,1968, Ser. No. 710,447

Int. Cl. Gd 7/02 US. Cl. 84-384 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Aconstruction for a flute or similar wind instrument which avoids thenecessity for soldering directly to the instrument tone chamber. Theconstruction consists of an elongated outer metal housing, with themetal tone chamber located substantially coaxially therein. Set screwswith pads on their inner ends are threaded through the wall of the outerhousing and clampingly and supportingly-engage the tone chamber. Thetone chamber has integral tone ducts extending outwardly throughapertures provided in the wall of the outer housing with washers ofdeformable sealing material surrounding the ducts and sealing themrelative to the apertures. Key posts are soldered, or otherwiserigidly-secured on the outer housing, and valves, with activating keys,are provided for the tone ducts, being pivoted on the key posts.

This invention relates to musical instruments, and more particularly towind instruments of the type employing a metal tone chamber.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedmusical wind instrument structure which involves relatively simplecomponents, which is inexpensive to fabricate and which provides a highdegree of tonal beauty and tonal purity, hitherto not obtainable withthe previously known constructions.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved musical windinstrument assembly which employs simple and inexpensive parts, which isdurable in construction, and which avoids impairment of the resonancequalities of the tone chamber thereof by eliminating the necessity ofsoldering directly to the wall of the tone chamber and thereby avoidingthe necessity of heating the material of the chamber, or otherwisecausing it to change its crystalline structure.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved musical windinstrument of the type employing a metal tone chamber, the instrumentemploying a tone chamber which is not cycled through wide temperatureexcursions during the process of manufacture of the instrument, namely,which is not exposed to extreme heat, as has heretofore been the casewith metal wind instruments where the key posts thereof have beensoldered directly to the walls of the tone chambers, the construction,therefore, being such that the resonance, tone and responsiveness of theinstrument are greatly improved because of the substantially uniformcrystalline structure of the metal tone chamber employed therein.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and claims, and from the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a metal flute employing the improvedconstruction of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical crosssectional view takensubstantially on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged transverse vertical cross-sectional view takensubstantially on the line 33 of FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view takensubstantially on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view takensubstantially on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is a transverse vertical cross-sectional view similar to FIGURE3, but with the supporting screws for the inner main tone chamberomitted and with the key posts, valves, keys and other parts omitted,illustrating the construction in an early stage of the assembly thereof.

FIGURE 7 is a transverse vertical cross-sectional view similar to FIGURE6, but showing the supporting screws for the main inner tone chamber inplace, supporting the inner tone chamber in a substantially coaxialposition relative to the outer housing of the instrument.

Much of the tonal beauty and purity of some musical instruments, andspecifically the flute, depends upon the material of which they aremade, and the care and treatment in the process of manufacture. Theextent to which it is possible to avoid soldering and heating thismaterial greatly enhances the tone of the instrument and-theresponsiveness thereof to the musicians efforts.

The better and more expensive flutes are made of sterling silver,platinum, gold, or iridium platinum. In all cases in which theseexpensive metals are used, great care is taken to avoid any operation,such as heating and soldering, that might change the molecular, orcrystalline structure of the metal and thus, destroy its resonatingqualities. In most cases, these instruments are made of cold drawntubing. It is however, necessary to fasten the key posts which supportthe key mechanism to the tubing. This is ordinarily done by drillinginto the tubing or fastening a rib or metal strip alon gthe length ofthe tubing by soldering, and in this step of the process theundesiraable heating of the metal must be performed. A prime purpose ofthe present invention is to provide a structure in which this heating isunnecessary.

It has also been determined that by employing a very thin tube, thequality of the tone is greatly improved. In the prior devices known inthe art, this thinness is limited, because of the necessity ofmaintaining at least a thickness necessary to support the key mechanismand also to avoid denting and bending in the course of ordinaryhandling.

Another important purpose of the present invention is to enable verythin material to be employed for the tone chamber of the instrument.Also, as is obvious, since platinum, gold, and silver are very expensivematerials, by employing a relatively thin tone chamber, the quantity ofthe material is reduced, which also reduces the price of the eventualmusical instrument constructed in accordance with the present invention.

As will be presently explained, the construction of the presentinvention will result not only in an instrument of excellent and greatlyimproved tonal beauty and clarity, but will also result in a requirementfor only about onehalf as much of the above-named expensive metals in aninstrument of a given size. The reason for this is that in theconstruction of the present invention an inner section is employed whichis the only portion contributing to the production of the tone, whichinner portion is the only section made of an expensive material such asplatinum, gold, or silver. In the construction of the present inventionthe outer section, which has no part in producing the tone, may be madeof a less expensive suitable metal.

In the present invention, a cold drawn tube of relatiyely small wallthickness made of either silver, gold, platinum, or. iridium platinummay be employed, with the tone holes cold drawn from the main tubing.

Referring to the drawings, 11 generally designates an improved metalflute constructed in accordance with the present invention. The flute 11consists of a head joint 12, a center joint 13, and a foot joint 14whose end portions are telescopically interengaged, as is clearly shownin FIGURES 1 and 2. Each of the components of the in strument 11 isgenerally of similar construction comprising an inner and outer section,as will be subsequently described, the inner section comprisingrelatively thin metal tubing provided with cold drawn duct portions.

Thus, as shown in FIGURE 2, the head joint 12 comprises a thin-walledinner metal tube 15 which is located substantially coaxially within anouter housing tubular section 16. The inner tube 15 is made of one ofthe aforesaid, relatively expensive metals, such as platinum, gold,silver, iridium platinum, or the like, whereas the outer housing section16 is made of a suitable less expensive metal. A conventional mouthpiece17 is rigidlysecured on the outer section 16, in any suitable manner, asby soldering, or the like, and is provided with an inwardly-directedduct portion 18 which extends through and is snugly-received in an airintake hole 19 provided in the inner tubular section 15. A cork plug 20is provided in the end portion of inner tube 15, being mounted on theshank 21 of a stud axially secured to a cap member 22 provided at theouter end of the head joint assembly, the cap having a reduced shankportion 23 snugly-engaged in inner section 15 and being formed withannular grooves receiving the end rim portions of sections 15 and 16, asshown in FIGURE 2. The cork plug 20 is wedginglyreceived in and providesan end seal for inner tube 15, and may be adjusted longitudinally inposition by rotating the cap 22. This shifts the plug 20 longitudinallybecause of the threaded engagement axially therethrough of screw stud21. The instrument may, therefore, be tuned by shifting the position ofthe sealing cork 20.

It will be seen that the inner tube 15 is maintained coaxial with theouter housing section 16 at the outer end thereof by the cap member 22.The inner tube 15 is also supported in coaxial relation to outer housingsection 16 by the provision of three evenly-spaced, coplanar,inwardly-projecting radial abutment screws 24 threadedlyengaged withhousing section 16 adjacent the opposite end of head joint 12, eachabutment screw 24 being provided with an inner tip 25 of suitabledeformable cushioning material, such as fiber material, the tips 25being substantially hemisp-herically-shaped with their convex surfacessupportingly-engaged with the inner tube section 15, Each deformablesupporting tip 25 has a stud portion 26 ccmented in a recess 27 providedin the inner end of the associated screw 24, as shown in FIGURE 5.

The center joint 13 and the foot joint 14 are constructed generally in amanner similar to that described above in connection with the head joint12. Thus, the center joint has an inner tubular section 28 and an outerhousing section 29, said sections being slightly enlarged at their rearends to define skirt portio'lns 30 and 31 to telescopically-receive theforward end portions of sections 16 and 15 of head joint 12, in themanner illustrated in FIGURE 2. Similarly, the foot joint 14 comprisesan inner tubular section 32 and a tubular outer housing section 33formed respectively at their rear ends with the slightly enlarged skirtelements 34 and 35 telescopically-receiving the forward ends of thesections 15 and 16 of center joint 13, as shown in FIGURE 2.

The inner sections of the center joint 13 and the foot joint 14 arecoaxially-supported in their outer housing sections by spaced,fiber-tipped, inwardly-directed radial supporting screws 24 locatedadjacent the opposite end portions of said joints and being similar tothose described above in connection with the head joint 12.

It will be seen from FIGURE 2 that the telescopicallyconnected headjoint, center joint and foot joint can be readily detached from eachother to facilitate the transportation and storage of the instrument.

The center joint and foot joint sections of the instrument are providedwith valves and tone holes spaced in a manner to provide the requiredmusical scale tones. Thus, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, the center joint13 has its inner tubular member 28 formed with the drawnoutwardly-directed tone ducts 36 and 37, the ducts 36 being arranged ina longitudinal row in a plane inclined counterclockwise with respect toa vertical plane, as viewed in FIGURE 3, whereas the ducts 37 arearranged in another lane inclined clockwise from the vertical, as viewedin FIGURE 3. The ducts 36 and 37 extend upwardly through apertures 38and 39 formed in the outer housing section 29 through sealing bushings40 of fiber, or other suitable deformable material secured in theapertures and sealinglyengaging the tone ducts, as shown in FIGURES 3and 4. The sealing bushings or washers 40 may be of any suitabledeformable material, such as fiber, deformable plastic material, or thelike.

The top ends of the ducts 36 and 37 are normally engaged by conventionaltone hole valves 41 having sealing pad elements 42 engageable with therim portions of the tone ducts to seal said ducts when the valves are intheir normal depressed positions. The valves are operated in aconventional manner, being carried by arms 43 rigidly-secured tolongitudinal pivot shafts 44 pivoted on post elements 45 rigidly-securedto outer housing member 29, by any suitable means, such as soldering, orthe like. The pivot shaft 44 is rotated by a conventional operatingmechanism, such as the conventional key 46 pivoted on posts 47, 47likewise secured to outer housing member 29 by soldering, or any othersuitable means.

The foot joint 14 is provided with tone ducts, valves and keys arrangedin a conventional manner and being constructed similarly to the toneducts, valves and key mechanism above-described in connection with thecenter joint 13.

The respective joints of the instrument are assembled by first insertingtheir inner tone chamber tubular portions therein and then centeringsaid tubular portions with respect to their outer housing portions byadjusting their fiber-tipped clamping screws 24. Thus, as shown in FIG-URES 6 and 7 illustrating the various stages of assembly of the centerjoint 13, the inner tubular section 28 is first inserted into the outerhousing member 29 and moved so that its duct elements 36 and 37 registerwith their associated apertures 38 and 39. The fiber-tipped clampingscrews 24 are then threaded into their tapped openings and adjusted in amanner to render the inner tubular section 28 substantially coaxial withthe outer housing section 29, as shown in FIGURE 7. Thereafter, thesealing washers 40 may be installed in the aperture 39 around the toneducts 36 and 37, and the various post elements 45 may be soldered to theouter housing section to allow the various valves and their operatingmechanisms to be installed for final completion of the assembly process.In the case of the head joint 12, the mouthpiece 17 is soldered to theouter section 16 with its duct portion in a position to besnugly-engaged through a receiving aperture provided therefor in theinner tubular section 15. This operation may be performed before theinsertion of the inner section 15 into the outer section 16.

Because of the fact that the tone ducts must be arranged in at least twoplanes, as above-described, for reasons involving the gradation of themusical scale and the positioning of the required key mechanisms, theplanes containing the center lines of the respective rows of ductscannot be radial, but must be located so that they intersect aconsiderable distance below the axis of the instrument, as shown inFIGURES 3, 6 and 7. This arrangement is necessary to facilitate theassembly of the various joints, namely, to facilitate the insertion andpositioning of the inner tubular sections in the outer housing sectionsof the respective joints. This structural feature is obvious from FIGURE6 wherein it is seen that the inner section 28 must be elevated from itsstarting position engaging the bottom of the outer housing section 29,but sufficient clearance must be available to allow the inner section 28to be inserted in the outer housing section 29 and to allow the innersection 28 to be longitudinally moved through the housing section 29 toa position wherein its drawn tone duct elements 36 and 37 register withtheir associated apertures 38 and 39. The tubular inner section 28 mustthen be elevated from the position of FIGURE 6 to the position of FIGURE7, namely, to a centered position in the housing section 29, whereuponthe tone ducts 36 and 37 rise through the apertures 38 and 39 intoproper positions relative to said apertures, namely, with the rimportions projecting outwardly short distances beyond the periphery ofthe housing section 29 so that they can be properly engaged by theirassociated valve pads 42. Thus, the planes of the tone ducts 36 and 37are located in planes which intersect approximately at an angle of 45relative to each other and on a line spaced a considerable distancebelow the center line of the instrument, as viewed in FIGURES 3, 6 and7. This distance of said line of intersection from the center line ofthe instrument is approximately equal to the radius of the inner tubularsection 28, but is not necessarily limited to such a value.

It will be seen from the above description that the assembly of theinstrument can be performed without the necessity of applying heat tothe inner tubular section of any component of the instrument, and thateach inner tubular section can be fabricated from thin-walled cold drawntubular material having the best tonal characteristics for the purpose.Since no heat is involved in the fabrication of either section, nochanges in their molecular or crystalline structure are made by thefabrication process and hence, there is no deterioration in theirresonating qualities.

It will further be seen that the relatively fragile thinwalled innertubular sections are protected against mechanical damage and againstaccumulation of dirt or other foreign materials by being protectivelysurrounded by their outer housing sections. The heat applied to theouter housing sections in soldering the post elements 45 thereto, or insoldering any other necessary attachments thereto does not affect thetone quality of the instrument, since said tone quality is essentiallydetermined by the physical characteristics of the inner tubular sectionsof the instrument.

It will be further understood that because of the relative smallthickness of the inner sections, the tone ducts 36 and 37 can 'bereadily formed by cold drawing.

The supporting screws 24 may be of any suitable type any may be providedwith any suitable type of tool engaging recess at their outer ends.Thus, the screws 24 may be provided with diametral grooves 60 at theirouter ends adapted to be engaged by a conventional screwdriver blade.

What is claimed is:

1. In a musical wind instrument, a body portion comprising a relativelythin-walled metal inner tubular section, an outer tubular housingsection surrounding said inner section, inwardly-projecting abutmentmeans adjustably-engaged with said outer section andsupportinglyengaging said inner section to hold the inner section withinand spaced from the inner surface of the outer section, said outersection being formed with at least one tone duct aperture, at least oneoutwardly-extending tone duct integrally-formed on said inner sectionand extending through said aperture, deformable sealing means mounted inthe aperture surrounding and sealing same relative to the tone duct, andvalve means pivotally-mounted on the outer section and including amovable sealing element operatively-engageable with the outer end of thetone duct.

2. The musical wind instrument of claim 1, and wherein saidinwardly-projecting abutment means comprises a plurality of spacedscrews threadedly-engaged through the wall of said outer section.

3. The musical wind instrument of claim 2, and wherein said screws areprovided at their inner ends with deformable pads.

4. The musical wind instrument of claim 3, and wherein said deformablesealing means comprises a bushing of fiber material.

5. The musical wind instrument of claim 2, and wherein said outersection is formed with a plurality of tone duct apertures located in atleast two different longitudinal planes, and said inner section has acorresponding number of integral outwardly-extending tone ducts receivedin said apertures and sealing means in each aperture surrounding thetone duct therein, and wherein said valve means includes respectivemovable sealing elements operatively-engageable with the ends of thetone ducts.

6. The musical wind instrument of claim 5, and wherein said longitudinalplanes intersect in a region located opposite the tone duct apertureswith respect to the center line of said outer section.

7. The musical wind instrument of claim 6, and wherein the tone ductsare formed on the tubular inner section by cold drawing.

8. The musical wind instrument of claim 7, and wherein said longitudinalplanes are approximately at to each other.

9. The musical wind instrument of claim 8, and wherein said screws arearranged in groups, at least one group comprising a plurality of screwslocated adjacent an end of the body portion.

10. The musical wind instrument of claim 9, and wherein the screws ofthe group are located in a common transverse plane.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,801,187 4/1931 Artley et al84-380 RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner LAWRENCE R. FRANKLIN,Assistant Examiner

